Stain . . .

(from Born of a Woman by John Shelby Spong)
". . . When I listen to Easter and Christmas sermons, I hear time after time a still-vibrant neoliteralism even in those mainline churches that would be embarrassed is someone suggested they were fundamentalistic. Likewise, the official documents, studies, and pastoral letters issued by ecclesiastical bodies or groups or bishops are often buttressed by straightforward appeals to the literalism of Scripture. One bishop was quoted in the press as asserting that in seven specific passages of the Bible homosexuality was condemned, as if that somehow guaranteed it to be so forever. Every movement to end oppression in any form in Western history has had to overcome the authority of a literal Bible. Christianity, with is Scriptures intact, persecuted pagans and spawned a vicious anti-Semitism that fueled everything from the Crusades to the Holocaust to the defacement of synagogues. That demonic gift from biblical literalism plagues us even today. A literal Bible still sees the Jews as those evil people who killed Jesus. "His blood be on us and on our children" (John 8:44), and they are defined as possessing a God-given stupor: "eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear" (Rom. 11:8). There are times that I literally shudder when I hear the Good Friday read and realize once again that the biblical use of the words 'the Jews' in that narrative will once more feed that dark stain on the historic soul of Christianity. . . "

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
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The Best Policy?. . .

(from No One Left To Lie To; The Values of the Worst Family by Christopher Hitchens)

"The impression has been allowed to solidify that there was no price to be paid for all this; that the very definition of political skill was an ability to act without conscience.  Appalled by the sheer raw ruthlessness of the President and his defenders, the Republicans and the conservative churches decided to call it a day.  Marvin Olasky, the born-again Rightist who had originated the idea of "welfare reform" and been at Newt Gingrich's elbow, wrote a book on Presidential morality in which he said that if only Clinton had been a more regular churchgoer, and would even now ask for God's mercy, all might be well.  It was no only liberals who failed the test set by Clintonism: the world of the "prayer breakfast" was his ally as surely as were the boardrooms and the Dow Jones.  But millions of Americans still realized that something had been lost in the eight years of reptilian rule.  The embarrassing emptiness of the 2000 election, especially the loss by the Democratic Party of even the slightest claim to any moral or ethical advantage, is one small symptom of what has been so casually thrown away.  Meanwhile, the warm-blooded and the thin-blooded could only discuss the scaly and the remorseless in hushed tones, as the ensuing chapter will demonstrate.  Perhaps one day the hot-blooded will have their revenge. . . "

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An Offer . . .

(from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/pope-francis-mafia-target-corruption)
". . . Prosecutor says pope's attempt to bring transparency to Vatican is making mobsters agitated. Pope Francis's crusade against corruption has made him a target for Italy's all-powerful mafia clans, a leading anti-mob prosecutor has warned.

Nicola Gratteri, who has battled Calabria's shadowy 'Ndrangheta mafia, said on Wednesday that Francis's attempt to bring transparency to the Vatican was making the white collar mobsters who do business with corrupt prelates "nervous and agitated".

He told the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano: "Pope Francis is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican.

"If the bosses could trip him up they wouldn't hesitate. I don't know if organised criminals are in a position to do something, but they are certainly thinking about it. They could be dangerous."

Francis, who has called for "a poor church", has backed reform at the Vatican's bank, which has been suspected for years of being a channel for the laundering of mob profits. This week police impounded a luxury hotel on Rome's Janiculum hill – formerly a monastery – which the 'Ndrangheta allegedly purchased from a religious order.

In a fiery sermon on Monday, Francis railed against corruption and quoted the bible's advice that practitioners be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck. . ."

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Fall Like. . .

. . . a house of cards

(thanks to http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/19/20580271-pope-francis-says-church-cannot-focus-only-on-abortion-and-gay-marriage?lite)
I'm no holdout rooting for the preservation of the Catholic Church, but it can only be good news that the organization now has a man in charge who appears to be logical, reasonable and totally human.  His latest comments about the church's preoccupation with abortion, contraception and gay marriage being revisited further drives home this point.

The Pope spoke of finding a 'new balance' adding that "Otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards. . . " He also said, quite eloquently I might add, “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: When God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”


TUMBLING DOWN
©1994 Raymond M. Jozwiak





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Competition. . .

(from Life Among The Lutherans by Garrison Keillor)
". . . Christmas is a holy day that the early church fathers invented because they were in competition with the Roman religion.  One thing Christianity lacked was a big feast, and the Romans had one toward the end of December, Saturnalia, so the Christians established Christmas, sort of like one chain putting up a store right near its competitor.  It doesn't have so much to do with Jesus as it does with business, and it's been a big hit;  the number of people celebrating Saturnalia and offering sacrifices to the gods has really diminished. . . "

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Popes. . .

(from 'In God's Name' by David Yallop)
". . . Albino Luciani then gave an extraordinary demonstration of his own abhorrence of a wealthy, materialistic Church.  He exhorted and authorised all of his parish priests and rectors of sanctuaries to sell their gold, necklaces, and precious objects.  The proceeds were to go to the Don Orione centre for handicapped people.  He advised his readers that he intended to sell the bejewelled (sic) cross and gold chain which had belonged to Pius XII and which Pope John had given to Luciani when he had made him a bishop.

'It is very little in terms of the money it will produce but it is perhaps something if it helps people to understand that the true treasures of the Church are, as St Lorenzo said, the poor, the weak who must be helped not with occasional charity but in such a way that they can be raised a little at a time to that standard of life and that level of culture to which they have a right. . .'"

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Millennials. . .

 

 Okay.   That's NOT a millennial.

But. . .

(from The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net)
  ". . . Joel Stein, a writer for Time Magazine, has recently written a lengthy article about the Millennials.  As I read it, I realized he was talking about my grandkids’ generation.  To the descriptions I just shared about my grandkids, Stein adds additional notable qualities of Millennials.  Race, sexual orientation, and gender do not matter much.  Some observers see Millennials as self-centered, selfish and narcissistic.  Their voting record (turnout) is disappointing.  They seem to be too busy with “me.”  They are able to live with a high level of chaos and are not motivated to “straighten things out.”
    I confess my German heritage pushes me to make things orderly.  I am clearly out of step with my grandkids, but I am pleased they accept me without hesitation. 
    In Stein’s article he did not burden the reader with a lot of statistics.  He simply states “I have the facts.”  Gallop, the Pew Foundation, universities, and news bureaus are getting the same numbers.  Millennials are not challenging our culture.  They are creating a new one and have not asked permission from anyone over 30. 
    Prior to the Stein article in Time, the Barna Group, a research organization that specializes in religious subjects, published the results of a massive study of Millennials with church backgrounds.  The phenomenon of the cultural changes fostered by the Millennials is hitting churches big time. 
    Researchers have verified the “rise of the Nones.”  The Pew Foundation research found that one in every five American is religiously unaffiliated.  The Barna Group wanted to know  specifically who made up the swelling tide of nones.  Over one-third of all Millennials are nones.  The Barna research became even more specific. Among Millennials who were raised in a church tradition over 50 percent are now nones. 
    The Barna studies show Millennials to be socially mobile, intellectually adventuresome, detached from institutions, and frustrated with churches.  Many Millennials are still interested in religion and want a personal faith.  Christian churches and institutions do not fit in the picture. 
    In the Barna Group research, they introduced new categories for understanding those leaving churches.  They identified sub-groups they called “nomads,” “prodigals,” and “exiles.”  I noted that the categories all indicate significant movement.  With Millennials there is no “status quo.”  They are on the move.
    What is behind all this?  Just now few are venturing a guess.  However, Joel Stein is correct.  We have the facts.  The numbers are not lying.  The patterns that are being described are reality. 
    Are Millennials a case of arrested maturation?  Has mobility produced a new kind of rootless generation?  Is this a product of the flat world dominated by computers that do not need human contacts?  Has Facebook replaced family and primary social groupings?  How does this relate to the emergence churches?
    I do not know how to explain the emerging patterns.  I do know that my grandkids are great young people.  I do not believe the Millennials will let us down.  However, I observe the chaos and get a bit nervous.  I am tempted to join Maxwell Smart and fight the evil of chaos.  Then I am reminded of the first law of chaos.  Chaos increases the possibilities.  Millennials may be the best hope for the future of humankind. . ."
               

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Money. . .

 . . . talks. . .

 . . . maybe even PRAYS!

(from http://news.yahoo.com/l-archdiocese-cardinal-mahony-settle-sex-abuse-cases-225218104.html by by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Andre Grenon)
". . . The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony and a former priest have agreed to pay a total of nearly $10 million to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against them, lawyers for the victims said on Tuesday.

Mahony, who retired in 2011 as head of the largest U.S. archdiocese and is now in Rome taking part in choosing a new pope, was accused of helping a confessed pedophile priest evade law enforcement by sending him out of state to a church-run treatment center, then placing the priest back in the Los Angeles ministry.

As part of the agreement approved by a Los Angeles judge earlier this month, none of the parties admitted wrongdoing, according to a plaintiff's attorney in the case, Vince Finaldi. . . "


And who will take this religious organization seriously in the future???

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